Urban data has been exploding over the past years. Simply pull out your smart phone and you will know the location of a drinking fountain nearby or the departure time of the next bus. Data collected on our urban surroundings and kept is, however, going far beyond. It includes information on traffic flows, air quality, population, building heights, the number and types of trees in urban parks and more.
Such “urban data” is considered as playing a key role in urban planning for the improvement of city environments. As it is held by both public and private actors such as municipal authorities, companies or private individuals and is thus subject to various types of governance, the question is how data can be used for the common good and in accordance with legal provisions. This is where the idea of data trusts holds promise: data put in a trust and placed under the control of trustees being administered in line with the respective requirements of the trust is used in the interest of the data holder.
“Urban data held in trusts could be vital for improving the quality of life of local communities. Piloting trusts in the urban context can become important also for international data transfers and allow trade of know-how between cities, e.g. on aspects of congestion problems, the gentrification of neighbourhoods or limiting the spread of a pandemic in densely populated urban areas,” explains Bilyana Petkova, REWI professor at the Institute of the Foundations of Law. In her new research project “Urban Data Trusts in Theory and Practice” the Professor of Law and Society in the Digital Age addresses forward-looking questions that focus on the potential of urban data trusts (UDT) of bringing about positive change to data governance. The theoretical limb of the project will seek to probe into the reform that fundamental rights might need for the 21st century urban data economy. The practical limb will seek to establish an experimental UDT and exchange data with another UDT in a non-EU city.
Professor Petkova’s innovative project was recently awarded a grant from Cambridge University's Data Trust Initiative. To find out more on her research on law and technology or legal aspects of smart cities click here.